美国国家公共电台 NPR--After months of scandal, House panel is investigating Rep. George Santos

After months of scandal, House panel is investigating Rep. George Santos

Transcript¹

The House Ethics² Committee has opened a formal probe into Republican Congressman³ George Santos of New York. He has lied to voters about much of his career and family history.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The House Ethics Committee, a committee of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, is moving forward with an investigation⁴ of New York Congressman George Santos.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Yeah, the Republican has faced constant scandal and controversy⁵ since taking office in January. He lied to voters about much of his career, his family history.

INSKEEP: And NPR's Brian Mann has been following his story. Hey there, Brian.

BRIAN MANN, BYLINE⁶: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: So the investigators⁷ get into this. His fellow lawmakers get into this. What questions do they have?

MANN: Well, there are a lot of questions, of course, about George Santos. You'll remember he deceived the public about his education, his career. He claimed falsely his family has Jewish heritage. He even lied about being on a championship college volleyball team. But a lot of the most serious questions for this House panel appear to focus, Steve, on money. Where did George Santos get hundreds of thousands of dollars that helped fuel his campaign? In a statement, House Ethics Committee Chairman David Joyce, a Republican from Ohio, says the panel is going to probe whether any of Santos' behavior violated federal conflict of interest laws or public disclosure rules. One of their goals, according to their statement, is that they're going to determine whether any of Santos' activity amounts to, quote, "unlawful activity."

INSKEEP: Well, that's interesting because we do have freedom of speech in this country, which, in most cases, includes the freedom to lie. So at what point would your lie become a crime?

MANN: Yeah, you can lie to the public and still get elected, but if you lied on federal disclosure forms, if you misappropriated campaign money that was donated to you, that could be a crime. Again, that's the allegation here.

INSKEEP: What punishments could he face if those allegations are sustained?

MANN: Well, depending on what this panel finds, they could recommend a reprimand. Or they could go all the way and call for Santos to be expelled from the House, though that rarely happens. In their statement yesterday, the panel did point out that by launching this investigation, that doesn't signal that they believe any violation⁸ occurred. This investigation is just getting underway.

INSKEEP: Isn't there an allegation of sexual misconduct entirely⁹ aside from the questions about what he said?

MANN: Yeah, that's another thing on this long list of questions. According to the Ethics Committee statement, this panel will look into whether Santos - and I'm quoting here - "engaged in sexual misconduct toward an individual seeking employment in his congressional office." This comes after a man named Derek Myers alleged¹⁰ Santos touched him inappropriately while Myers was volunteering in Santos' office and hoping to get a full-time¹¹ job.

INSKEEP: I just want to pause here for a minute. If this involves something in his congressional office, it's something from this year. He just became a member of Congress. This isn't something from his campaign or the past but this year.

MANN: That's right.

INSKEEP: What does Santos say about all this?

MANN: Well, a statement was released by Santos on his verified Twitter site saying he's going to fully¹² cooperate with investigators. More broadly, Santos has admitted deceiving voters, Steve, but says he merely embellished¹³ his resume. He says there was no criminal activity. He's also repeatedly denied those sexual misconduct allegations. He describes all these scandals as part of a media and partisan¹⁴ witch hunt, though, at this point, his fellow Republicans are among his fiercest critics.

INSKEEP: Not quite all of his fellow Republicans, though, right?

MANN: That's right. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, you know, has not yet called for Santos to go. And McCarthy says Santos will remain a member of the GOP caucus¹⁵ and get due process but will not be serving on committees or see any classified briefings until these allegations are all resolved.

INSKEEP: And, very briefly¹⁶, does he face other investigations¹⁷?

MANN: Yeah. There is a district attorney in Nassau County looking into his activities and also a federal probe. So a lot of headwinds for George Santos.

INSKEEP: Brian, thanks very much for the update, really appreciate it.

MANN: You bet, Steve.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Brian Mann.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

3 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 embellished   

v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色

参考例句：

• The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句

14 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

15 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

16 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

17 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。